Grab Text for your TiddlyWiki with TiddlySnip

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Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Eliminate another step on your path to wiki-based organization with TiddlySnip, a free Firefox extension. Once you’ve configured TiddlySnip to point at your wiki, online at TiddlySpot or off, you can submit entire web pages, your clipboard contents, or just the text you’ve selected to it, with custom tags and duplicate prevention. For those wondering what’s with all the tiddly talk, TiddlyWiki is a one-page, one-file personal wiki that you can bring anywhere and type away at to contain your thoughts, projects, and anything else. I’ve already started using TiddlySnip to store away StumbleUpon discoveries for later and pare down my lengthy list of del.icio.us bookmarks, but I’ve only just begun.

Reserve Space from Maximized Windows with DesktopCoral

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Windows only: With the increasing popularity of sidebar gadgets/widgets, dock applications like RocketDock and ObjectDock, and other desktop integration applications like Samurize, a maximized window can cover a lot more than you want it to. Donationware application DesktopCoral reserves desktop space and prevents maximized applications from covering your reserved screen real estate. Just run the app and define the area you want restricted from maximized apps. From now on, any maximized window will stay off your reserved screen area, letting you go big with apps without covering the desktop space you want access to. DesktopCoral is donationware, Windows only, requires a free license key.

Fully Customizable Sidebar with SideSlide

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Windows only: Like the convenience of the Vista sidebar but wish it offered more customization, or even just a hiding option? Free application SideSlide gives you program and web site launchers, RSS readers, notepads, reminders, pictures, clipping holders, and more in one skin-able bar that hides on the edges of your desktop. It’s the kind of tinker-friendly widget that shortcut lovers can easily get lost in—containers to launch multiple programs at once, feed combiners with group searching and updating and lots of keyboard navigation options, to name just a few hacks. Check out this quick start guide by SideSlide’s makers to get started. SideSlide is a free download for Windows XP, 2000 and Vista, and requires that Microsoft Core XML Services 6.0 be installed (a link is provided on the SideSlide link below, but Vista users should be set up already). Vista users who just want to get more out of their pre-installed sidebar can check out our roundup of useful sidebar gadgets.

Micromanage Your Widescreen Monitor with AutoSizer

autosize.pngWindows only: Freeware application AutoSizer automatically resizes and moves application windows to specific, user-defined sizes and screen locations as soon as they’re opened. That means that if you’ve got a widescreen monitor with the perfect window layout that packs every last pixel with useful information, you can save each window size and location with AutoSizer and restore the perfect layout automatically, day after day, as soon as you launch the applications. Alternately, if you’d prefer an application to open maximized or minimized, AutoSizer can take care of that, too. AutoSizer is freeware, Windows only. For similar but manual takes on screen real estate maximization, check out Sizer and WinSplit Revolution.

Create A Backup Image of Your System with DriveImage

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Windows only: Freeware application DriveImage XML creates and restores images of any drive or partition on your system. That means that next time you freshly install Windows on your computer (whether XP or Vista), you can back up that clean and sparkling system state with DriveImage XML. If things get messy down the road, you can just as easily restore that fresh system state with the program’s simple interface. We’ve given you the complete guide to system partition imaging and restoring from the open source perspective, but the freeware, Windows-only DriveImage XML offers a much more user-friendly alternative for the faint of heart.